Parade of Girls – Ginny When God’s time was ripe, I went to the Memorial Day picnic of the Servicemen’s Christian Center in CT, and there I met the love of my life, Virginia “Ginny” Elizabeth Shaw, who was 3 ½ years my younger, being born in Los Angeles CA …
Navy 1 – OCS, Flight Training I attended a few meetings at the Navy Reserve center in Chattanooga through the sponsorship of my older friend (a WW2 Veteran), where for entertainment they showed pornographic movies, which I thought disgusting and deemed a waste of the Navy’s time and money. When …
Church3, Saved! On the night of my solo tie-cutting, March 8, 1966, I went to the church attended by my roommate, as fellow flight student; it was Friendship Baptist Church; they were holding “revival” meetings at that time, with a guest preacher. I went, though half drunk, ignorantly thinking to …
Cars 3 – Volvos In 1965 in the Navy I bought my first Volvo car, a maroon 1964 4-door model, and joined USAA to get a loan from them for financing. I drove this car in FL, and finally totaled it by crashing down an overpass after fasting for growth …
Navy 2 Helicopters, Church 4 After carrier qualification and receiving my wings, I returned to HT-8 at Ellyson Field to learn the Bell H-13 “Sioux”, the simplest and smallest of all helicopters. This and all my subsequent helos had the two pilots side-by-side in front, with the plane commander (usually …
Navy3 HS-11 After reporting to my fleet squadron HS-11 “The Dragonslayers” I was assigned to my home in the Bachelor Officers’ Quarters (BOQ); it was next to the clinic and the base chapel, and a short way from our hangar. I had two adjoining rooms in a suite, with my …